When I bought my first Vanagon back in 1990 - an 85 GL - that was it.
Got rid of everything else, and have never owned another vehicle type
since. Just doesn't pay for my lifestyle. At this point - I have three
Vans. I will run them 'til rust and there is only one left - and at that
point - I probably won't be driving or caring anyway.

John Rodgers

On 6/25/2012 10:09 PM, David Beierl wrote:
> At 09:39 PM 6/25/2012, mcneely4@cox.net wrote:
>> Hmmm..... . All automobiles? My Honda Accord has the combustion
>> air intake immediately over the battery in the engine compartment, a
>> really dumb arrangement, I would think, since any corrosive gases
>> from the battery would be sucked into the intake.
>
> If you look, I'll bet you find that the intake horn is lined up with
> some convenient opening facing forward.* You don't care that much if
> the car isn't moving. It's more of an issue with the Vanagon where
> the engine compartment gets a lot less ram air to keep it cooler.
>
>> However, I'm not going to argue with Honda engineers given that
>> the vehicle is at 203k miles and counting, with no work beyond
>> ordinary maintenance required yet.
>
> Grrrrr....I guess it's not a '98 Accord. Dealer: "Nobody in the US
> knows how to fix these transmissions. We just throw them away. Yes,
> the recall is just for the V6 but we have lots of trouble with the
> 4-cyl too. Too bad, sorry. You've really had a lot of trouble with
> this car, haven't you?" Paid 6k, put in ?4?, would have been another
> 4+ for transmission, traded in for 2k on wife's $6k Outback and
> haven't thought of it since until today. Although she's paid more
> just for repairs on the Outback than the total outlay on a '95 Geo
> Prizm ($2k) and all repairs since. She took the Geo with her when
> she left and I swapped the Accord for the Geo when she bought the Outback.
>
> *On my '78 Horizon they did seal it to the outside, and they put the
> ECU in there to keep it cool. Too bad they only potted the ECU with
> silicone RTV halfway up the ceramic disk capacitors. Five years
> later, every time it rained hard...there *was* a recall, so the
> dealer sprayed it down real well with a hose to verify the problem
> before sealing up the caps with more silicone. Three miles down the
> road...ever see a CAT glowing red hot in daylight?
>
> Sunbeam, Fiat 128, Saab 96, '78 Horizon (the one CU rated "not
> acceptable"), Vanagon, apparently the worst Accord ever built,
> another Vanagon...oh, and some Toyotas but they don't count except
> for one -- the Accord replaced a '93 Camry I got for $1200 to replace
> the Geo that S took with her.
>
> I cleaned the mouse condominia out of the ventilating system, found
> out that Toyota's heater blower resistor lasts about five seconds if
> it isn't in the fan airstream, was getting really really really sick
> of the mild smell of mouse (but oh, those seats. Felt like a sin
> every time I sat down), when it was stolen out of the driveway in
> broad daylight with the neighbor watching. Found out that the State
> PD got it back that night when I got a bill for two weeks
> storage...collected it, the thieves had been gentle but left in a
> hurry and left behind the stripped key they used. Turns out '90-95
> Camrys ignition locks wear out and you can turn them with a worn out
> key that you've filed down a bit more. Paid the $500 for storage,
> drove it home and at one o'clock next morning watched it drive around
> the corner. Those thieves weren't so considerate, so I gave it up as
> a bad job and paid real money for the Accord. Boy was I glad to see
> that Geo back! It's a beater, but it just keeps on beating.
>
> Yrs,
> d
>